All-electronic tolls planned for PA turnpike

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission officials say they plan to convert the Pennsylvania Turnpike into all-electronic tolls that charge motorists without requiring them to drive through toll plazas.

The turnpike’s acting chief executive officer Craig Shuey told a joint House and Senate Transportation Committee hearing that the five-year project is the most ambitious of its kind in the nation.

He also says it’ll be the most significant change in how the turnpike operates since it opened in 1940.

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The existing network of toll plazas would be replaced with overhead “gantries” that straddle travel lanes. Tolls would automatically be deducted from E-ZPass accounts and the license plates of other vehicles would be photographed so bills could be sent to their owners.